Queso de Cabra

 

Toasted garlic bread dipped in creamy goat cheese and tomato sauce - this is a go-to recipe, delicious and easy!

Ingredients 

3 garlic cloves, minced 

1/4 cup olive oil

Loaf of French bread, sliced

8 ounces goat cheese (plain, not flavored)

1 to 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

Salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together garlic and olive oil. Spread over bread slices and lightly sprinkle with salt & pepper, then place on a baking sheet. 

Pat goat cheese into a 1/2-inch pancake and place in shallow baking dish. Ladle tomato sauce into dish to come up to top edge of cheese. Bake until sauce begins to bubble at edges and cheese is hot, about 25 minutes. During last 10 minutes of baking, toast bread until golden brown.

Chocolate Eclairs

These are pretty simple to make and taste better than the ones at the bakery!

Recipe:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

2 1/2 cups cold milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons hot water

Preheat oven to 450. Grease a cookie sheet.

In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, stirring until butter melts. Reduce heat to low and add flour and salt. Stir vigorously until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and begins to form a stiff ball. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to incorporate completely after each addition. Spoon dough onto cookie sheet in 1 1/2 x 4 inch strips.

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake 20 minutes more, until hollow sounding when lightly tapped on the bottom. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the filling, combine pudding mix and milk in medium bowl according to package directions. In a separate bowl, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Beat in 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Fold whipped cream into pudding. Cut tops off of cooled pastry shells with a sharp knife. Fill shells with pudding mixture and replace tops.

For the icing, melt the chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in hot water, one tablespoon at a time, until icing is smooth. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and drizzle over filled eclairs.

Tips - These are best when served still warm, with the warm chocolate drizzled over them!

Charter a Party Bus

Okay, I used the word "charter" to make this sound a little more fancy than it actually is. The truth is, party buses come in both ghetto and lavish versions.

The crappy ones are like trolleys, or school buses, with bench seating and open windows. The fancier ones are like limos, with big screen televisions, funky disco lighting, stripper poles, sound systems, leather seating, and multiple bar areas.

As you can probably tell from my adoring description, I've only rented the nicer ones.

These are great for birthday parties, pub crawls, or just a wild Saturday night!  A regular party bus seats about 20-30, depending on which one you get. Expect a tight fit if you fill it to capacity, but it really won't matter, because if you play the right music, it will erupt into a dance party pretty quickly.

Both buses I've been on had an Ipod dock, so make a great dance mix and you'll be set.

Meeting at a bar and having the bus pick you up there is the best way to do this - that will lubricate the way for the guests, who will feel more at ease jumping into the wild light show if they have already had a couple of cocktails.

The place I most recently rented from here in Chicago had the most luxurious buses around, so I would recommend them: Emperor Limousine

There were other companies that were cheaper, but after some research I learned that their buses were older and did not offer a lot of the same amenities (light up stairs?!  we needed those!).

A word of caution - negotiate! The advertised rate for a lot of these places is $250 or more per hour, but I ended up paying about half of that because I negotiated. Also, check to see if a tip is included for the driver. Most places have a "will match any price" listed on their sites, so they expect you to forward them quotes if you get a better one.  Create a bidding war!

As far as what to do once you are on the bus, that's up to you! A bar crawl is the most obvious choice, but you could also just drive around the city in your party on wheels.

If you do decide to do a bar crawl, I would suggest getting a megaphone to keep track of your guests. It's easy to lose a liquored up party guest, especially in a crowded bar. This was a smart purchase I made a few years back, and it has come in handy more often than you might think:

The Power of the Uzi

The bus will come equipped with soda, water, and ice, but you will need to bring your own booze. I would also bring extra cups for mixing drinks if your friends are as thirsty as mine.

Finally, here is an example of how not to leave your bus, if you want to avoid an exorbitant cleaning fee!

Spicy Southwest Salad With Grilled Chicken

• This recipe takes a little time because of all the grilling involved, but it is very tasty!
• 
  

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 cobbs of corn, husked
• 1 cup of cooked black beans
• 1/2 small red onion, peeled and sliced
• 2 tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, deseeded and cut in half
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 cup crumbled queso fresco
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Cilantro sprigs for garnish
• 2 tortillas, deep fried while pressed in a wire basket so it is a shell shape.

DIRECTIONS

Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and a bit of olive oil.  Cook on a hot, oiled grill about 5 minutes per side. Let rest and then cut into strips. Add the corn to the grill and cook on all sides until tender and slightly charred - about 7-8 minutes. Dice the chicken breast. Drizzle the corn, scallions, tomatoes and tomatoes with olive oil and place on the grill until slightly charred. Slice the red onion into slivers and also grill. Grill the limes, cut side down on the grill also. 


Dice the grilled vegetables and shuck the kernels of corn off the cobb. 


Make the dressing by combining the sour cream with chipotle and adobo and grilled lime juice and mix with a fork. Add a little olive oil to make it nice and smooth.


To mix the salad: place the chopped vegetables and diced chicken into a large bowl and combine well. Dress the salad with a little of the dressing and mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 


To serve, place spoonfuls of salad into tortilla shells and garnish with sliced avocado and fresh cilantro.


Tips:  If you're in a hurry, you can use canned corn and just grill the onions, chicken and bell pepper.  Also, if you're not a fan of chipotle, this is also good with a standard southwest style ranch.

Spicy Jerk Chicken

This is a really delicious recipe and is also pretty healthy, which is a nice bonus. I like to make this with chicken drumsticks or bone in chicken pieces myself, as cooking it on the bone makes it more flavorful, but any cut of chicken will work.

Recipe:
6 green onions, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (or leave seeds in for more heat!)
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/2 pounds chicken drumsticks (or thighs, breasts, etc)

In a food processor or blender, combine the green onions, onion, jalapeno pepper, soy sauce, vinegar, vegetable oil, brown sugar, thyme, cloves, nutmeg and allspice. Mix for about 15 seconds.

Place the chicken in a medium bowl, and coat with the marinade. Refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours, or overnight. Preheat grill for high heat. Lightly oil grill . Cook chicken on the prepared grill 6 to 8 minutes per side, until juices run clear.

Tips - This is definitely better if you marinate it overnight, but I've marinated it for as little as 30 minutes and it was still good! This marinade is also great on shrimp.

Tropical Itch

1 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Light Rum
1/2 oz. Orange Curacao or Grand Marnier
3 - 4 oz. Passion Fruit Juice


Combine in a shaker with a cup of ice. Shake and then pour, with ice, into a tall glass. Top with additional passion fruit juice if needed and garnish with pineapple and/or cherries.


Tips - if you cannot find passion fruit juice, you can substitute passion fruit flavored vodka (instead of the plain vodka) and then use any fruit juice (orange or lime are good) for the juice portion of the recipe.

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Chocolate Irish Cream Pudding Shots

These are super easy to make and delicious! 

Ingredients:
1 (3 1/2 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vanilla flavored vodka
1/2 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
1 (8 ounce) container cool whip, thawed 

Directions:
Whisk pudding and milk together.  Add vodka and Irish cream, then fold in the cool whip. Divide into individual servings in glasses.  Place in freezer for 5-10 minutes, then serve (or reserve in freezer until serving). 

Tips: 

For the effect below, double this recipe, making one batch of chocolate and one batch with vanilla pudding.  Alternate the flavors, using a pastry bag to pipe the pudding in.  Elegant, and simple!  Top with a dollop of whipped cream, chocolate shavings, cocoa powder and/or sprinkles.  Cheers!

Spicy Stuffed Mushrooms with Bacon

One of my all time favorite appetizer recipes - bacon, mushrooms, cheese, jalapeno.... How can you go wrong?

Recipe:

4 slices bacon

1 1/2 lbs mushrooms

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup onion - finely chopped

1 garlic clove - finely chopped

1/3  cup sweet red pepper - finely chopped

1 jalapeno pepper -- finely chopped

3/4  cup shredded cheese

(any cheese, I like cheddar but you could also use mozzarella or bleu cheese)

Cook bacon until crisp.  Remove from skillet, drain on paper towels and chop.

Remove stems from mushrooms. Reserve and finely chop 2/3 of stems.  Discard
remaining stems.

Cook mushroom caps in boiling water for 1 minute.  Drain and rinse with cold water, 
then drain on paper towels.

Heat butter and add mushroom stems, onion, and garlic.  Cook five minutes, add
peppers and cook three minutes longer.  Cool, then stir in bacon and 1/2 cup of cheese.

Spoon into caps.  Bake on baking sheet at 350º for 10 minutes.  When taking the
mushrooms out of the oven, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and serve!